For you I will
by Sandrasandrah
Summary: A Jogan fic based on CP Coulter's Dalton. Took place at the end of chapter 23: Showdown. Yeah, I know it's quite long but...it's a love story.
1. Chapter 1

___AN: So...as I said, this is a Jogan fic (and yeah, maybe some other CP's characters popped in my head...but it's still Jogan!) but I really didn't know how to tell this story without them. It takes place after Showdown and the whole creepy scenario in front of Stuart House._

_Ok, before you read it, I just want to say three things: 1. It's been like four years since I hadn't wrote ANYTHING! 2. This is actually the first story I've finished so I'm really proud of it. And 3. Well...uhm...english is not like my strenght. In fact, I live in Peru, I talk spanish and...well...english classes weren't the most interesting ones in school so my english is...well...awful...That's why I really like to thank Chiara, Akemi and Google to help me correct my fic. I love all three of you 3_

_So, ok, any comment or constructive criticism is always welcome. I hope you enjoy to read it as I enjoyed writing it :)_

_I do not own Glee, nor Dalton, nor any of the characters in this story. Everything came from Ryan Murphy and CP Coulter (so thank you too, guys!)_

* * *

Logan gave up on making scenarios in his head about how the conversation with Kurt and Blaine will go on. He decided to tell Kurt the whole truth about everything that had happened last year. But how can he start? When exactly everything began? How could he explain all that went through his mind: how did he feel, why did he act the way he acted with everyone close to him?

He threw his cell phone into his bed and sighed. That was it for today. No more Kurt and Blaine thoughts. No more thoughts about anyone else but him, like it's always been. He stood up and looked around his quiet, lonely room. "Where the hell is Derek?" Whatever. Right now he just wanted to take a shower. A long, steamy shower would allow him to put his mind in blank for at least some minutes since, well, now it seems like forever.

* * *

Julian couldn't understand what happened after he opened the door to leave Dalton forever. Images were trying to fit in his head but everything was so damn confusing. Hell, that kind of shit felt like something taken from a Stephen King's book, or from an actor's worst nightmare. So yeah, his nightmare. His nightmare and a Stephen King's book. And he leaving because of a love that will never happen… add Jane freaking Austen to the equation and you get a horror chick flick movie. He couldn't react. He could not even feel Derek dragging him across the common room. The sound of a door closing seemed like a far away echo. Something was really wrong but nothing made sense anymore. Did he just saw a mutilated picture of himself covered in, what it happen to look like, blood? Was this actually a nightmare? While walking upstairs he considered that possibility: maybe a door actually did close, maybe Derek had entered to his room to take the notebook he lend Julian a couple days ago and Julian never gave it back because he couldn't remember where exactly did he left it. And maybe the feeling of being pulled by someone was Derek trying to wake him up whether from the nightmare or to know where his notebook was. Maybe that was it.

"Julian, Julian! Hey, Larson, answer me!"

A strong shake made Julian came back to reality. So this was happening after all.

"Huh?"

"Are you okay, man?"

How exactly did he end up in Derek's room?

"What?"

"Dude, what was that all about?"

At least he wasn't crazy. Something morbid happened, it wasn't a hallucination.

"I- I don't…"

"I mean, those sick fans of yours are really getting psycho now!"

"I… I- What?"

"Fans, man! Really psycho chicks. That was sick! Should we call the police or your agent or someone?"

Julian couldn't think straight. There was something extremely weird in the whole situation. Yes, his fans knew where he was at the moment and, yes, in the past he had to put up with some strange 'love acts', as he decided to call them, but nothing like that.

"I need some water"

Derek looked at him worried. He reached a bottle from his desk and handed it to Julian, who was sitting on his hands looking at some tiny device on the other bed.

"Julian," asked Derek again, he had listened to some of Julian's stories about crazy fans and had witnessed a couple in Dalton but this one wasn't funny or lame. It was a threat. It was a sick threat "should I call the cops?"

After a long pause where Julian was trying to taste every sip of the insipid water he looked finally at Derek: he had concern and fear printed in his face.

"No, no, just… leave it"

"Julian, didn't you see the same sick shit that I do? We should do something! That isn't normal, not even for a fan, man!"

Julian now was focused on the half-emptied bottle. His elbows rested on his knees. Somehow, the stillness of the water calmed him.

"Just…leave it"

Derek stared at his friend. He looked confused but oddly calm with the whole situation. Maybe he didn't realize yet what just happened. He sighed and sat on his desk chair copying the exact position Julian was. Maybe all they needed was silence.

"Oh-"

Suddenly, a long figure came out of the bathroom. A white towel wrapped his waist while a second one was in his hands trying to take off the excessive amount of water off his blond hair. If this would've been a different moment, when Julian looked up he would examine every inch of Logan's body. He would have stopped in the V-line that started in his hips and went down to an unknown, yet, tempting place Julian sometimes caught himself thinking about and immediately shook his head to make those thoughts disappear. He would contemplate his white torso with patience even though he had already seen his bare chest a couple of hundred times while summering in The Hamptons, or when he suddenly entered into Julian's room to make a quick change of outfit just because "that doesn't suit you, Jules. It looks better on me". Julian never allowed himself to stare, not even to care about the fact that his beloved sometimes uses clothes the actor hasn't worn yet. Those are the ones that Julian hesitates to send to the laundry, to wash his scent. Of course, he decided to keep one with him. Just one polo the blond took right before the whole Logan/Blaine/I-don't-even-pretend-to-know-his-name fiasco began. That polo was still in Julian's closet, folded in a corner where no one could see it, not even him. He never wore it, he never look at it, he never smell it. It was just the thought of keep having his smell with him that Julian liked. And now, that same polo was still in the same corner as it had always been among other things he left unpacked pretending he had forgotten them.

But no.

He couldn't either look at that blond messy hair of his that molds perfectly with his beautiful face. That same hair that every now and then let some drops to fall into his chest and got lost in the white towel. Julian didn't felt envy of those drops. He didn't wonder neither what if someday his fingers would make the same route as those lucky and fearless drops. He just looked right to his eyes. And there they were. Those hazily, beautiful, deep green eyes that he always looked and never was afraid to do it when they were fighting. Not even at freshmen year when they first met. Julian wasn't afraid, he looked at him with that charming smile and those piercing brown eyes and Logan finally met a worthy contender just at that very right moment. 'Well, how about that…-' Logan thought, he wasn't willing to break the stare neither 'actor-guy has balls'.

And all the fights, the name calling and the sarcastic comments prove him right through all this years.

"What's going on?"

Derek finally looked away from his crossed fingers to watch Julian's reaction.

"Nothing"

No. Something really huge was happening. Julian was leaving because he couldn't keep hurting himself. Some creepy fan just made it pretty clear that, whatever Julian was doing, the fan didn't like it. But it wasn't Derek's place to tell, and if his friend didn't want Logan to know, then, he will respect his decision.

"You're lying, Jules," he looked concerned at his friend "you can be an actor but you're not that good"

Julian let his face draw a tiny incredulous smile. Did Logan just offend him? Never breaking eye-contact he just replied.

"And apparently now you are concern about others? Come on Logan, give me a break"

Logan wasn't expecting that reaction at that time of the night and in his own room. He sighed annoyed and drop the hair towel onto his bed.

"Charming, Larson, as always. If you don't wanna tell me it's your god damn business. I don't even care"

"You never care" Julian murmured apparently not that soft. Logan was getting irritated.

"You know what, Jules? Yes. I never care. I bet you're crying now because some director didn't cast you for some shitty movie, or your agent just called to tell you that you were not chosen 'Hottest man of the year' by some stupid teen magazine." That strange heat running through his veins embraced him. He felt that same thing right before the fight with Blaine last year; he felt it come with strength when he saw in New York that video of Kurt and Blaine singing and loving each other. Now, he felt it every time he saw Julian's daring eyes, but he stood still. "Real people have real problems, Julian, get over it".

"Logan, that's enough!" A strong voice came from one side of the room. Derek never losing his peace while talking.

"Shut up, Derek"

Suddenly, Julian stood up and took a couple of steps closer to Logan. The distance between them was still considerable.

"Oh, sorry, Your Majesty. Did I annoy you with my fake problems at this ungodly hour? Do you have to take your beauty sleep to look great for Kurt in the morning? Because, who knows, maybe tomorrow will be the day Kurt finally realizes that he doesn't love Blaine. In fact, maybe right now he is thinking "Yeah, Logan is way better than Blaine. I totally love how he has to be drugged in order to have a decent conversation with him. Definitely, an _egocentric, bipolar, wise-ass_ sounds like a nice catch!'"

Logan ran into Julian's throat. He pushed his friend and threw him onto Derek's bed. Julian didn't even fight him. He saw that coming, he could predict his impulsiveness. As a matter of fact, he wanted that to happen. Derek did not react on time but when he saw Logan on top of Julian with his hands in his throat he jumped to break his two friends apart.

"Stop it, Logan! Get off!"

"Shut up, Derek!" both guys replied at the same time with their eyes still locked in each other.

"No! That's enough!" Derek gathered all his strength and managed to remove Logan's hands from where they were. Logan wasn't choking Julian… There was still some part of him that kept controlling the force in his hands. He just felt the rush to scare his friend.

When Logan finally stood up he was still furious but a soft voice in his brain told him to take a deep breath. Logan adjusted his towel and turned away taking his pajamas from under his pillow and locked himself in the bathroom again.

Julian turned his head just a bit to watch Logan disappear through the door. He wasn't crying, although all the water that fell from Logan's hair into his face doesn't seemed like just that from Derek's perspective. He sat on the bed and straight up his shirt. Derek sighed, not sure about what to do next, but he didn't have the time: Julian stood up and opened the door. He left Derek's room without a word. He felt sick. His room suddenly sounds like a great place to hide, although, the stalker might've already know where it was. It didn't matter. He felt the urge to sleep for days.

Logan went out of the bathroom with his silk pajamas already adjusting to the shape of his body. He was calm now. Derek was holding his cell phone in one hand and his pajamas, an old sports tee and a sweat pant, in the other.

"What the hell-?"

"I'm not staying here, you lunatic!" Derek was full of rage. He couldn't even look at Logan at the moment. He fought back the urge to punch his friend repeatedly and just closed the door after he left. Maybe Bailey would want some company for the night. Logan stood still for a moment, staring at the door. He wasn't sure how did all began.

"Fuck it"

Logan opened the white satin sheets and let himself feel lost in between them. He stared at the stony roof high above him and sighed. That's what happens when you concern about others, he thought remembering the conversation he had with himself before. Fuck everyone else.

He closed his eyes.

Tomorrow would be a long day.


	2. Chapter 2

"Maybe someone was painting something…"

The cafeteria was crowded with sleepy students that were already late for classes. Charlie sat in his usual table to eat his breakfast in peace; unfortunately, the sudden appearance of a little girl made that impossible.

"Really, Charles? When I told you about some creepy dude in Hanover dropping red paint all over the place the first thing you thought is that someone was painting something late at night?" Laura was pinching her hotcake with her fork really annoyed "You and my brother are gonna drive me crazy!"

"Shut up, Laura" Justin suddenly appeared with a tray full of cupcakes and a cup of coffee "For the last time: there was a fair, there was paint everywhere…" he took a bite of his banana cupcake. "And red is the color of love".

Laura was angry. She hit the table making everything on it shake. "It's the color of blood too!"

"I'm gonna stop you right there" Charlie said while taking a napkin to clean his mouth "because if Dwight listen the word blood again, we're doomed".

"You guys don't understand." A worried voice came from the little girl. "Listen. So the trail of red droplets…it ended in the stairs, right?" Charlie and her brother continued having breakfast not even pretending interest in the story "And then I saw that guy…" Charlie looked at her, still listening careless "I think that's the new one, the one you were worried about in the fair, Justin".

None of the guys respond. Charlie tried to grab one of Justin's cupcakes while he wasn't paying attention but he only received a slap in the hand.

"I'm telling you, my psychic powers says that the new one hides something"

"Laura, you are not a psychic" Justin gave up and finally gave Charlie one of his beloved cupcakes. "Maybe he feels like an outsider, that's it. Give him time!"

"Whatever" Laura left her tray in the table and stood up. "I'm gonna find out what's his deal"

"Sit down, young lady!" Justin was now starting to wonder why he decided to let her sister had some breakfast before she leaves Dalton. "You will not do anything because it's not your problem"

"Then you do it!" Laura felt her voice rose unconsciously and a table full of Stuarts next to them started to look at her. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "You are the prefect, Justin. Couldn't you just check his room without his consent?"

"That's breakin' in. I won't break-in in nobody's room"

"We can do it" Suddenly, two identical voices came from behind Charlie.

The twins were standing behind the Windsor prefect (who almost choked when Evan put his hand on his shoulder and Ethan took advantage of the situation and grabbed the cupcake Charlie was holding) with identical grins sharing the stolen cupcake.

"No, you can't" Charlie said struggling to find some air to talk before the twins get too excited.

"Yes we do" Identical voices again. Ethan took a piece of cupcake and put it into Evan's mouth, Evan did the same thing to his brother.

"Well, you won't"

The twins sat next to Charlie with puppy eyes. Charlie was used to those faces so he became immune to them. He could give them the cupcake, fine, but he wouldn't let Windsor boys breaking into another House.

"Come on! We'll be good! We promise" Evan begged while Ethan continued with the puppy eyes tactic, nodding.

"Do you guys even know what we're talking about?"

The grins became wider.

"Sure!"

"Breaking in…"

"…somewhere"

Charlie gave them an incredulous look while Justin looked concern at Laura. She seemed excited with the Cheshire smiles the twins were giving to Chaz.

"As the House prefect," Justin cleared his throat "I will not allow this kind of behavior in Hanover"

"Yeah, neither do I" Charlie looked at them fumingly. The twins looked at the prefects who now were the ones with identical expressions.

"Fine"

"Okay"

"We won't" Ethan and Evan copied the same expressions the prefects had. The twins, now serious, stood up and disappeared.

Laura looked amused; she knew that the twins won't give up that easily. Her plan was still on.

Unfortunately, Justin and Charlie knew the same thing, but they didn't feel like Laura.

It was a bad feeling


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you okay?"

Logan was staring at his feet, elbows on his knees, fingers crossed. He heard Blaine but he knew that the question wasn't for him. Still, he waited for the answer. He finally looked at Kurt: he seemed calm, although every muscle of his body was tense. Eyes wide open without looking at the boys. Blaine did the same thing Logan decided to do: tell the truth and nothing but that. And maybe at some point Logan had watched Kurt's reaction and wondered if they should leave it there, but he couldn't stop. After everything that went wrong with them he thought he owed him that at least. But at this point, Logan considered that it was a really bad idea to open himself in front of the couple. It was a pretty intense atmosphere.

"I will be"

Blaine squeezed his boyfriend's hand and gave him a warm smile. Despite Logan's decision to back off, he still felt some pain when he saw that, but he could live with that. This was nothing compared to what he had to put up with his father… and with himself. Kurt looked at Logan still shocked: he wasn't mad at him, now he fully understood what had happened. Logan looked away, the window showed a very nice view of Stuart House. Of his House. Of his friends House.

His best friends.

Julian.

"I just need a second" Kurt sighed and stood up, Blaine wanted to follow him but his boyfriend just waved him asking to be left alone.

The Hall remained in silence for a couple of minutes.

"Well, that's it" Blaine finally broke the silence "That's the entire truth, right?"

Logan nodded never parting his eyes off the window, his fingers were tapping the couch. "Whatever. He wanted to know"

Blaine looked at him, searching for his eyes. Logan was so passionate that, by the way he answered, he thought he had taken his medication before the three sat down to talk.

"Yeah…"

Logan sighed. He hadn't have taken his meds that morning, he wanted to be aware of everything. At least in that way Kurt would see that he also suffered. He managed to convince himself that Kurt wasn't the one. Maybe he just felt it that way because he treated him as a human being. Not like John Logan Wright III, son of Senator John Logan Wright II. Not even as 'that prick that made Blaine suffered last year'. Kurt treated him as a guy who could be wrong sometimes, that has a huge talent and that sometimes he just needed a slap to put him in his place. He wasn't scared of him (at least not at the beginning) and that was something that Logan was really attracted to: bravery.

Like Julian.

"Well-" Logan shook his head and sighed. Blaine was staring at the ground in concern, he was thinking of Kurt, he could tell "I think I'm done here".

Blaine reacted at the final words and stood up right after Logan did.

"Hey, listen man, thank you for doing this. It means a lot"

"Yeah, well, I didn't do you any favor. It was something I had to do"

"Of course, of course" Blaine answered immediately nodding. "I'm glad you did it"

"Right-" Logan was looking at Blaine emotionless. Somehow, he did felt drugged. "Well, good luck with Kurt. I wish you nothing but happiness and duets both of you can sing to show all the love you two have".

The short guy was confused. He didn't know how to respond to that because of everything that had happened between them; but mostly because Logan's face was still in blank, very unusual in the intense blond guy.

"Was that… was that sarcasm or something?"

Logan snorted. _This is unbelievale_. Blaine wasn't sure if he had pushed Logan's button way too far so he quickly added:

"I'm sorry, I'm just… I can't think straight after this"

"Yes, of course." Logan fought the rush to throw a lamp next to him to the wall "Blame it on the talk"

"Hey, Logan, I'm sorry, okay? Honestly? With all that has happened between us and Kurt I imagined that…"

"Well, it wasn't sarcasm –" Logan interrupted "and I am backin' off, okay? So you two can really be happy singing and all that stuff"

Logan wasn't really looking at the other guy, he was staring at the window again. Blaine interrupted his thoughts.

"So you're really backing off"

The blonde one laughed.

"Yeah, Blaine, I am. I like Kurt, okay? And, somehow, at some weird point in my life, I liked you too so…-" Logan couldn't finish his sentences, the view of Stuart's domain was killing him. Finally, he put up all of his strength to look away. His feet seemed like a very good option to stare at "Nobody wants to be with an '_egocentric, bipolar, wise-ass'_, right?" Blaine felt a strong sadness in Logan's voice and didn't know where it was coming from, or why. It was a really heartbreaking picture. "So whatever" he shook his head and shrugged looking at Blaine "I'm going to have a just-me-time to work on that" Logan smiled.

Blaine smiled too "I get the irony"

"You do?" Were they having a decent conversation all of the sudden? "Great, I was afraid you wouldn't get it. That sarcasm question was too much of a mistake for me to take".

Blaine laughed. They were actually talking like human beings. "Yeah-" he put his hands on his pockets and started to balance from heel to toes. "Sorry about that"

"I know, I know. Anyway, I'm going now. This was fun, we should do it again sometime" Logan joked and Blaine, again, laughed while nodding.

"Yeah, I'm sure Kurt would love to hear the story again next week"

Logan smiled but the urge to look through the window invaded his whole body.

He messed up last night, hadn't he?

He turned and opened the Hall's door deep in thought. "Bye" Blaine's voice sounded far away.

Logan was walking through the Main Garden towards Stuart House. He felt uncomfortable, like someone was staring at him, trying to kill him with a glare. He didn't care. He had really messed up with Julian; the guilt was the only thing that could kill him right now. The scene of him running towards his best friend and pushing him onto the bed keep replying in his mind over and over again. He closed his eyes and kept walking.

He truly had been a lunatic.

Hopefully, Julian would still be in his room. That'd make things much easier.

But Adam knew exactly where he was.


	4. Chapter 4

Laura was sure she had listened something in the second floor but she didn't pay any attention. Whoever said that Hanover was the only normal House was wrong, she had witnessed some crazy stuff but they were obviously less troublemakers than Windsors and definitely less cocky than Stuarts.

"Psst!"

"Hey, Talking Flower! Over here!"

Laura smiled and looked up. Two identical faces appeared behind a wall. She knew it, it was a matter of time until the twins finally showed themselves.

"Great!" She said enthusiastically "I've been planning this for hours!"

"Talking Flower is really excited about this" Evan agreed with his brother.

The girl went upstairs and approached the twins, who were still hiding behind the wall, with a small notebook and a pen. She had written a lot of ideas.

"I've been practicing the breakin' in thing in Justin's door so there's no problem with that." She looked through her notes "I'm not an expert but… I can do it" said proudly.

The Tweedles smiled widely at her. They looked amused "Okay then, let's go".

Laura was leading the twins towards -what she now knew was- Adam's room. Evan and Ethan let her do it, although they already knew where it was. When they were in front of the door, Laura began to search into her pockets to the tiny wire she was practicing with the entire morning. "Oh, shoot!" she exclaimed.

"Hurry up!"

Laura felt nervous, the plan didn't involve to lose the breaking in tools. "Yeah, I'm-" and she rose her head to look at the now opened door with the twins waiting for her to enter. "Oh…" She said, remembering she was actually talking to Windsor boys and, more precisely, the Brightman twins. "How did you…"

"How exactly did you think we enter here? Evan asked with a huge smile in his face.

"Through the door?" Ethan seemed curious.

"Boring!" the type of synchronicity between the brothers was really cute and confusing for Laura at some times. She smiled and closed the door behind her.

They didn't know what exactly they were looking for. The room looked pretty much normal at first sight, although, unsettling organized. Adam didn't have to share his room so the place seemed even bigger. The bed was in one corner. The empty space was filled with a two-body couch and a coffee table with books and a sports magazine hiding a TV Guide. The desk also looked organized: notebooks, a close laptop, a brand new set of pens next to some markers, glue, an English-French dictionary, a pair of scissors and a 10-inch ruler, all in line keeping the very same distance between each other. Next to the bed there was a football and a pair of sneakers which seemed to be the only dirty thing in the entire room.

"Whoa!" Evan started to look around marveled and, for the first time in his life, careful enough to not break the peace of the room.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Ethan asked staying in the same spot.

"I don't know" Laura was looking through her notes. That was the only thing she didn't think about. She just figured that 'creepy new guy's room' would be full with blood, dead animals and a corpse body bag somewhere. She wasn't expecting this. "Red paint, I guess. Maybe some blood?"

The three intruders were moving with extreme carefulness through the Victorian-style room.

"Ha!" Ethan looked amused "Julian is on the TV Guide of this month!"

"Ethan, focus!" Evan commanded to his brother. The spying game was getting frustrating. There was nothing creepy in the room except from the level of cleanness. Suddenly, he felt bored.

Laura couldn't understand how her psychic powers have failed her. They never fail! Well, maybe a couple of…dozen times, but she was sure of this one! She felt disappointed of her and sat down in the couch looking again through her notes.

"Well, this is weird AND boring!" One of the twins cried sitting defeated in the well-made bed.

"…and SO wrong!"

The three failed spies jumped when they heard a fourth voice came from the door. There were two guys with their arms crossed staring completely furious at them. Charlie was looking in disbelief at the twins while Justin was focused on his younger sister with mad eyes, almost bursting in flames. Laura felt her heart stopped. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! I didn't think of that either! Oh my God, I'm gonna die in the cleanest room I have ever been…and it's gonna leave a stain!

"Hey Chaz!" Evan said full of joy. Now the spies were facing a huge obstacle: the prefects. "What are you doing here?" asked with a grin.

"WHAT?" Charlie felt his brain exploding. That was either a migraine or an aneurism. "NO! WHAT? IS THIS ONE OF YOUR JOKES?"

"Of course not!" Ethan followed his twin's idea "You two are breaking in!"

**WHAT?" **Both prefects shouted at the unison. Definitely was an aneurism. **"Are you freakin' kidding?" **So the twins weren't the only one who were synchronized all of the sudden.

Laura decided she was already dead so, what would be the worst thing it could happen? "I thought prefects were well-behaved students" she said quietly. The Tweedles made a disappointing face, shook their heads and crossed their arms.

"Oh my God, Charlie" Justin talked softly to his friend staring at a blind spot in the wall "I'm having chest pains. I'm having chest pains, Charlie" But Chaz was still focused on the twins and trying not to kill them with his very own hands "Laura, before I die I will kill you".

The twins jumped off annoyed "That's not the way to talk to the little Talking Flower!" Luckily, they were prepared for this situation. Both of them pulled out from behind their backs a nerf gun fully loaded and pointed it at Justin.

The Hanover prefect stared at them, eyes wide open, and looked away to the same blind spot he was staring before "My arm hurts. Chaz, my arm is hurting. I'm having a heart attack. Charlie, they're provoking me a heart attack".

Charlie was still trying to explode the twins' heads with his mind. He hadn't move a muscle a long time ago but, just for caution, the Tweedles were now pointing their nerf guns at him.

He sighed, moved away from the door and pointed outside "You two. Out".

"Little Talking Flower thought…"

"You two. Out." Charlie was seriously mad but he never raised his voice "Now." Dalton didn't even pay him to do this.

Laura was getting paler by the second. She met her brother's eyes for an instant and she was sure that part of her soul had died right at that moment. She hid her head between her legs and covered her ears. Even the carpet looked immaculate, and, oh God, the tiny metal box under the couch was brand new, dustless and at the exact middle point of the sofa.

Wait.

Wait.

So… a box.

She forgot for a moment that she was about to die, that the room seemed to be perfectly organized with every little thing in a strategic spot and she bent over to grab the rectangular red metal thing. When she opened it she let out the most terrifying scream no one have ever heard before. The twins were already leaving when they saw Laura throwing the box far away from her.

Two rats cut in half flew through the air. Everybody froze. The only sound in the room was Laura's crying.

Charlie and Justin walked towards the red empty box. The dead rats were close enough to it that they could look all in the same picture.

And the rats seemed clean too. There was not even blood staining the carpet

In fact, they didn't have a single drop of blood inside them.

"What the hell?" Justin looked revolted and Charlie sat down next to Laura trying to calm her down.

"We found something"

Justin and Charlie looked into the twin's direction. Ethan was holding a shoe box and when he opened it, they found tons of letters written in different types of papers but to the same name of destiny.

"Dear Julian," Ethan began "I'm such a big fan of your work" It was the first letter of the bunch "I'm happy to tell you that I talked to my parents and I'll be transferred to Dalton. I am so excited now! Maybe we could hang out some time?" Evan looked away from the letter and focus on the pair of sneakers next to Adam's bed. He left his twin alone and got closer to them. Why they didn't check under the bed? It's the first thing spies do! "Dear Julian" Ethan took other paper "Dear Julian. Dear Julian. Dear Mr. Larson-Armstrong Dear Julian. Dear-" Ethan looked confused checking all the papers inside the box. Charlie was looking at Ethan in concern but he didn't move. The rats weren't the only problem anymore.

"So…fan letters" Justin said holding his sister's hand on her other side but looking at the twin.

"No" Ethan shook his head checking the letters "He never send a single one of it".

"You guys?" Evan was now sitting on the bed holding a lot of magazines he found under the bed. Everyone gathered around him –even Laura was concentrated on that and the rats

were now in the past – "Julian is in every magazine". Everybody took one and started to look through the pages. When there was a picture of Julian there was a tiny mark or an arrow pointing at him. When they showed a picture of him with other people (mostly women) their faces were crossed with a black marker and with color pens there were obscene drawings on their bodies.

"Hmm…" Charlie frowned. The magazine he had said in the cover that inside there would be a Julian Larson poster among others but the only one missing was Julian's.

Laura looked at the laptop and thought 'What the hell'. She opened it and turned it on. The picture of Julian in underwear came up as his wallpaper. Laura knew that photo. It was from six months ago when Julian worked with Calvin Klein. She looked surprise, now she understood.

"Someone's got a crush" she said.

Charlie looked through the books that were organized by size in the shelf above the desk. He stopped in one of the first books and frowned. 'Why does Adam have a Dalton yearbook from last year?' He took it out while the others were looking at the stuff they have found and opened it in a marked page. A picture of Stuart's alums all in their uniforms standing in front of the House' main door was the first one he saw. A tiny face was crossed with the same black marker used in the magazines. He looked at the next page, it's still the Stuart's section of the yearbook but there were more casual pictures of the students. Charlie looked at the one that had the same guy with the face crossed, he recognized the three guys who were in that photo. Next page: another picture of him face-crossed. Charlie felt his blood turned ice. This wasn't a normal behavior for anyone.

"This is not a crush"

Everyone looked at the yearbook Charlie had in his hands.

"Oh"


	5. Chapter 5

"Is this seat taken?"

Julian's stuff was already packed and ready to go but Derek convinced him to stay at least one more day in Dalton to be sure he was fine. At the beginning, the actor played hard to get but, deeply, the safer place for him was always Dalton (despite everything, it was always Dalton). Now, he couldn't use any of his things besides the one he had in his bag. He looked away from his Ipad and found a shy smile.

"Not at all" Julian actually had stayed in the room because it was empty, he didn't want company at the moment but he felt sorry for the guy standing in front of him. "Adam, right?"

"Yeah!" the guy answered excited. Julian Larson-Armstrong actually remembered his name. Julian nodded and put his Ipad away.

"Yes, I remember you. You save me from my fans" Julian returned him a warm smile.

"I did" Adam laughed controlling himself, he wanted to jump so bad right now.

"Well, thank you" Julian sighed "I think I never told you that, have I?"

Adam actually remembered every word of that conversation. It wasn't long enough, though; but, for him, it meant everything.

"That's all right" Adam looked at Julian who was losing interest in him "So… an Ipad?"

"What?" Julian looked at him and then at the electronic device he was holding "Oh, yeah…" he grabbed it again "I was reading a script my agent send me".

"Oh, right, right!" Adam knew all about that script already, but Julian gave him a curious look so he explained "I read something about some fans who don't want you to take the part"

Julian laughed "Yeah, yeah. Fans have some… issues with that role" Looking at the screen he saw his reflection: his eyes showed exhaustion and pain. "But, oh well," he shook his head. Adam listened carefully "it's my decision, right?"

"Yes, yes of course!" No, it wasn't just your decision, Julian! You have to make your fans happy and we're not happy with your choice! "So you are doing it".

"Yep." Julian nodded.

"JULES!"

The actor's blood froze in less than a second. Every muscles of his body tensed almost ridiculously at the sound of that voice that he almost dropped his Ipad.

And Adam witnessed all this in first row. That wasn't a common reaction.

"What do you want, Wright?" he joined all of his courage to talk to him.

"I've been looking for you" the blond one was getting closer at every word. Adam had a strange feeling, like a sudden pain was coming from the actor "I want to talk to you".

"Kinda in the middle of something here" said never looking at his direction; he was staring at some blind spot above Adam's shoulder.

Logan turned his head to the other guy, careless. Adam looked back at him puzzled. Then both stare back at Julian. "It's just a minute".

Julian frowned without looking anywhere else.

"…Please"

Fuck, Wright. I hate you so much right now for making me feel this way.

Julian closed his eyes and nodded in defeat. Logan sighed in relief and turned to Adam again, he still looked confused "Do you mind?"

After fifteen seconds of not knowing what to do, Adam looked at Julian waiting for directions. The actor sighed, nodding. Adam stood up and walked away slowly.

Logan sat down in the same chair Adam was, face to face with his best friend. Both quiet.

"…Word says" he began "I'm a lunatic"

Julian didn't want to get lost in that beautiful gaze of his, so he just focused on the blind spot "That's the common opinion," he nodded "yes".

"So,-" he was trying to meet his eyes "the lunatic is saying he's sorry"

Still nothing, words couldn't get him. He was freaking Terminator.

"Jules" he came closer to him and held his hand. The blind spot disappeared and all he could see was their hands together. Logan's was warm and soft, his heart was beating too fast.

So much for freaking Terminator.

"I feel awful" Julian couldn't take his eyes off of the table where their hands were resting. He was trying not to explode, not to cry. Logan got closer looking for his eyes "I am egocentric and bipolar and a wise-ass but that's not excuse for doing the stupid things I did".

"So… you're stupid" the hands now became his new appealing blind spot.

"I am Jules. I am. I've never felt so bad in my life. I feel like shit, Jules, you have to believe me" the actor agreed "I'm asking for your forgiveness" he clutched Julian's hand and got closer. Finally, Julian met his eyes "You want me to beg, I beg. You want to punch me, you could run me over with your car. You want me to stay in the snow with nothing but this uniform, I'll stay fucking naked outside during a freakin' blizzard" Julian found this amusing, the mental picture of Logan naked trapped in a block of ice popped in his mind; he smiled. "Yeah…" Logan smiled in relief "for you I will, Jules. Just…forgive me".

Julian looked away and began to stare through the window, it was nice out there. Logan waited for an answer "Naked, huh?" Julian bit his lip and, for a second, Logan got distracted in his friend's mouth, he shook his head "I swear. Naked. Not even socks".

The actor smiled again, looked down and, slowly, slipped his hand out of Logan's. He shook his head "So this is how it will work with us?" Logan was confused "You attack me, I attack you back, then you choke me and Derek break us apart and you'll end up getting pneumonia for all the times you have to stay naked out there?" Julian was so hurt that every word his mouth pronounce was trying to provoke Logan the same pain for everything he did to him in the past.

"Julian, I'm begging here, come on. Besides, it will never happen again, I swear"

"Yeah, I'm not buying that" he looked at Logan skeptic "I mean, I suppose I could but the only way of being sure is keeping you high on meds, am I right?"

So, what exactly was Logan doing here?

Oh, right, apologizing.

"Hey, if you are not willing to take my apology just say it, okay? I'm not staying here making a fool of myself anymore"

Yeah, that's not happening anymore.

"Okay, Wright, then get this: I am not taking your apologies" because his heart was in so much pain right now.

"Fine, Larson, do whatever you want, I couldn't care less" the heat again started running through his veins.

"Egocentric"

"Conceited bastard"

"Psychopath"

"Shallow"

Neither of them actually looked angry. They were just sitting facing each other while fighting, not a single move.

"Daddy's boy"

"Wise-ass"

Checking Julian's insult dictionary.

"Buttface"

Fail.

There was a silence between them for a couple of second. Logan raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"Really, Julian? Really?" the smile suddenly became a laugh, Logan forgot they were fighting "Buttface? Oh, snap, Jules! Good one!"

And Julian refused to laugh, he was getting frustrated at every mock.

"Shut up, you bipolar, loveless child!"

"No, Jules, no" Logan shook his head wiping a tear for all the laughter with his finger and touching his stomach with the other hand "After Buttface it's clear now that I won".

"I still don't take your apology"

"I know" both guys continued looking at each other "Can I go now or you're trying to make a point with the endless stare?"

"If you go, I win this one" the actor smiled triumphant, he was a champion in the staring contest.

"So, it's a tie, right?" Logan's blood came back to normal, now he was only focus on teasing his friend.

"I win, actually" Julian corrected him "I have this contest and your pride for before. I'll give you buttface, I don't care. I still win"

Logan pressed his lips and sighed without looking away "Fine then" and crossed his arms, staring. "You are a bad actor".

"You are an awful singer"

The insults came automatically. Never taking their eyes off of each other, that was the final contest, the one that decided who will win this.

"Nobody treats you seriously"

"Nobody loves you" besides him, of course.

"Your TV series is really pathetic"

"You will die alone"

"So do you"

"At least I have my fans"

"Yeah, because that's healthy" Logan snorted.

"Well, at least I have my parents" Logan's body tensed "What do you have, Logan? A father who doesn't love you and a mother who doesn't do anything for you because you don't matter to her… Your dad is ashamed of you: of you being gay, of your singing and of the fact that you have to take drugs in order to look decent. That's why you're stuck here, right? You hate him and he hates you, and your mom… who knows. How long is it been since you haven't seen your mother, Logan? Or, better yet, how long is it been since your mom doesn't see you… _truly_ see you?"

And the heat came all of the sudden without any warning, but he didn't move. There was still the staring contest he had to win.

"You are right, Jules, my parents hate me, I don't matter to them" Julian didn't see that coming, he expected fury "but how about you?" No one was backing off "Son of a couple of actors, always in the public eye. How can you know if your parents really love you if all they do is act? Let me ask you something: can you tell? Can you tell when your parents are lying or they are just such good actors? And when they tell you that they love you, how can you be sure about that? Because they _do_ tell you that they love you, right? At least my parents keep it real and they show me how much they hate me every single time. But you? Everything is fake with you because you grew up pretending. Always in front of a camera, crying when you were happy, laughing when all you wanted to do was cry. And then you say that you have your fans? Give me a break, Julian, you're better than that. They say they love you even if they have never met you. They say they know what's the best for you because of all they read in those shitty articles. So, yeah, you could have your fans now but they'll move on and you'll end up alone again"

Julian couldn't breathe, he felt a tennis ball stuck in his throat but the eyes never hesitate where to look at. Logan was mad, he wanted to hurt his friend again but there was something holding him back.

"…And when you realize that everything in your life is a fraud you came here to feel like a human being again. And Derek and I have to stand all your I-am-too-cool-to-actually-finish-a-semester-in-Dalton attitude. But suddenly, you disappear. You have a movie to make? My ass! You just can't stand when shit gets real. You are a coward, Julian Larson, you've always been a coward that pretend not to be one"

The tears were imminent but the actor managed to delay them.

"Fuck you, Logan. I hate you"

"I know that" Logan stood up doubting if he just should break the table or Julian's nose "I hate you too"

And he walked away. Julian was crying but controlled his voice "I WIN!" said in a rage just before Logan left the room. The blond guy passed the door and turned left. He took a sculpture exhibited in the hallway and threw it to the wall, the other hand was safe in his pocket. The rage did not entirely leave his body but his pace was calm.

But on the right side of the door there was a still puzzled and mad new student who was wondering whether he should kill Logan right now or make him suffer first. He waited a minute until he decided to enter the classroom just to find a heartbroken actor, wiping his tears while he kicked the chair Logan was sitting with anger.

"Hey" Adam hesitated. Julian didn't even move or react to his voice "I-"

"Leave it"

But Adam just couldn't leave it there. It was the second time in a week –hell, in less than twenty-four hours – that saw Julian and Logan fight. But that fight was something Adam had never witnessed before. They were just sitting face to face apologizing, name-calling each other, laughing and mocking and, finally, hurting each other deeply. And Julian was crying now, he was crying for someone who, he said, he hates.

Oh…

It suddenly hit him.

"I know a place…-" Adam tried to keep it cool, he couldn't let Julian know that he was aware of his feeling towards Logan "there's good ice-cream in there".

"Forget the ice-cream" Julian was looking to the chair, eyes water-free "I need alcohol"

Adam nodded and faked a smile.

* * *

"DEREK!"

Derek turned back scared of the sudden yell through the hallway just to find two identical guys running towards him. When they reached him, both seemed exhausted and worried.

"What can I offer you, gentleman?" he asked annoyed. He was already late to a study session for next week's exam and with the twins no one ever knows how long it would take to break free.

"Have you seen Julian?" Evan said trying to take deep breaths but he just couldn't.

"As the matter of fact, I haven't seen him all day" Derek considered that thought for a moment "Maybe he got tired of this and flew to LA anyways…"

"LA, What?" Ethan asked waving his hand to make some air.

"Yeah" Derek shrugged "A movie"

"So he's not at Dalton anymore?" the twins asked with the exact same concerned voice tone.

"I don't know! Look, I'm in a hurry, what's going on?"

* * *

"We need to talk to Dean Ramsey, please?"

"Yes. Tell her that it's an emergency"

The woman stopped typing and looked at the boys, they seemed troubled.

"You're from Windsor, right?"

Silence.

"Not that kind of emergency"


	6. Chapter 6

It wasn't hate.

Sure, he hated him right now but he had never hated him. He was vain and a primadonna and took his clothes without his permission… but so does he. He looked at the tiny orange bottle in his hands and opened it frowning. Logan took a pill and sighed. Julian had the right to be mad at him.

Then, he put it in his mouth and swallowed.

It wasn't a surprise that Logan only had a few friends, so he always cherished just the two of them that remained by his side despite everything.

And yeah, Kurt.

And, it was hard to admit it but, even Blaine.

He still continued to feel anger even after the pill. Maybe they weren't working. He closed the tiny bottle and took a deep breath.

Still nothing.

But Julian deserved it, anyway. He went there, truly sorry, made a fool of himself and all he got was someone rejecting him, attacking him.

And he attacked him back mercilessly, he couldn't help it.

He felt awful.

The orange bottle opened again.

He wanted to see Julian more than everything but he knew it was too soon and both needed to calm down first. Maybe his best friend was right. Maybe the only way to have a decent talk with him was if he was drugged… but those damn meds didn't seem to work on him anymore.

He took another one and put it in the middle of his palm.

He _was_ a buttface.

Logan smiled sadly and swallowed the pill he was holding. Then closed his eyes.

* * *

"Where's Julian?"

"His suitcases are in his room so he's still in Ohio" Derek said, he was shaking.

"We checked the parking lot" Evan continued "his car is still there"

"The security guard told me that no one has come to pick him up neither" Bailey handed a glass of water to Derek. Last night, he trusted Bailey and told him about the stalker situation. Derek needed help to clean the entry before someone saw the huge mess outside Stuart so they woke up at four in the morning and began to clean everything up.

"Where's Julian?" Justin entered Stuart's common room with Charlie right next to him. Everybody looked at them worried. Justin sighed "We've already talk to Ramsey and now they're looking for Adam to confront him"

"Any luck?" Laura walked through the door slowly.

"What are you doing here?" Justin approached his sister "I told you, you need to leave"

"The hell I'm leaving!" Laura frowned, her brother stared at her and nodded, she was also worried.

"Damn it, Julian! Pick up your fucking phone!" Derek yelled at his phone, he was getting frustrated by the minute.

"Maybe the South Main…" Bailey suggested.

"Windsors can help us find him" Ethan thought, everyone agreed.

"I'll talk to Han" Charlie left the common room. The twins ran towards him and started walking together.

"Laura and I will check the graveyard" and both left too.

"We should check the South Main, Derek. Classrooms, cafeteria, everything" Bailey repeated.

Derek felt guilty. If it wasn't for him Julian would be on a plane flying to LA at this very same time, but now nobody could find him. "Derek" Bailey grabbed his arm to get his attention "Come on, we have to move!" Derek mumbled something that sounded a lot like 'yes, we have to move, yes' and started walking.

"We should tell Logan in case Julian show up here"

Derek froze. Why he didn't think of Logan? "Logan is here?"

"I don't know" Bailey frowned trying to remember if he had seen him "I guess"

Two seconds later, Derek was already upstairs running to the very last room of the hallway.

* * *

"You know what the problem is, Alan?" Julian was truly interested in the ice that was floating in his glass "Friends. Friends are a huge problem"

Adam gripped his napkin and laughed shallowly.

"You have friends, Alan?"

"I think so, yes" he was staring at his glass, eyebrows raised "And it's Adam, actually"

"I know that" Julian sighed, he couldn't remember how many glasses of whisky he had drink (partly because that was his first one) "So," he looked around "this is not a bar".

Adam looked around too and took a deep breath "We're underage, Julian"

"Right, right, right, right, right, right, right" the actor had always hated that excuse "Anyway, you know what the problem is, right?"

"Friends?" Adam was getting tired of the same question over and over again. Julian's whole attitude was annoying after the fight with Logan.

"I was gonna say guys, actually" he frowned "but, sure, let's go your way"

* * *

"LOGAN?" Derek opened the door so hard that the windows of the room started to shake. Logan looked at him bored, he was playing with the orange bottle he still had in his hands "Have you seen Julian?"

He looked sad when he heard his name but shook his head "I don't give a fuck about him" he lied.

Derek shouted and punched a stone column close to him. Logan didn't even react, the bottle had all his attention "Well, if-" Derek stopped when he looked at Logan's hands "Logan?" The blond looked up, his green eyes showed emptiness, just like the bottle "Logan, how many of these pills have you take?"

"Leave me alone, Derek"

"LOGAN!" he took his friend by the arms and started to shake him desperately "I AM NOT KIDDING"

"A FEW! A FEW, OKAY?" Logan stood up and pushed Derek away.

"Logan, before I went to classes I came back here just to make sure you'll see the pills when you wake up and take JUST ONE. And I know for a fact that this bottle had AT LEAST twenty pills inside! How. Many. Did you. Take." Derek felt his heart pumping really fast, it was hurting him.

"Two, mom, I took two pills" he was getting tired of the whole situation; he just wanted to be left alone.

"And where the hell are the other eighteen pills?" he couldn't put up with this right now, Julian was missing.

A silence was filled with Logan's killing gaze.

"The other twenty-one pills" he really wanted to punch him "Are. On. The floor!"

Derek looked down and managed to see some white tiny circles buried in the carpet. He frowned and stared back at Logan who still looked lost but mad "Just two?"

"I threw up, okay?" He tensed his face "When I took the second one I went to the bathroom and vomit, are you happy?"

"No!" he yelled. The fights with Derek weren't amusing as the ones with Julian. They mostly argued about Logan's meds but only because Derek had been always worried about him, and Logan appreciated that but he drove him crazy with the freaking pills. That's why he sometimes called him Mom.

"Good. Apparently the three of us were doomed to a miserable life and we will end up alone hating each other guts!"

The silence invaded the room again.

"So you have seen Julian?" Derek's heart stopped pumping.

Logan sighed, what's with the sudden interest in Julian's whereabouts "He was on the third floor of-"

Derek dragged him the entire way towards the South Main as fast as Logan let him.

"Der!, what the hell?"

* * *

"Can we talk about something else, please?"

Julian took another sip of his third whisky glass and nodded "Yeah, sure! We can talk about…school! What do you think about Dalton so far?"

Adam was about to kill himself, he couldn't stand it anymore. "Actually," he looked at his whisky glass "I was thinking maybe we can talk about you. About your career"

"Ah, my career!" Another sip "Well, I'm an actor," he said jokingly, Adam smiled "and I'm surrounded by fake people all-the-freaking-time"

Adam squeezed his glass, he was about to break it. All that things were coming from the fight with Logan from before; he had heard every single word of it.

"That Logan is always this annoying?"

"No…" Julian couldn't stop drinking "Only when he's awake"

* * *

Derek and Logan entered the empty classroom. Logan stood by the door while Derek looked around. There was a chair on the floor and…an Ipad on the table?

"This is Julian's, right?" he grabbed it and pushed the unblocked button: a script appeared in the screen "So he can't be far…"

"He's a big boy now" Logan crossed his arms "he can take care of himself"

Derek took a deep breath and closed his eyes, he felt better now that he knew Julian was still in Dalton, it was a matter of time until someone find him.

"You know," Derek put the Ipad down "you are annoying as hell"

Logan smiled with arrogance and walked through the classroom, he saw the chair on the floor and lifted it up. He felt miserable again.

"Derek, what's going on with Julian?"

The blond guy was looking at the Ipad with remorse. His friend examined his face and saw sadness. It still wasn't his place to tell Julian's secret so he couldn't do it despite how much he wanted to.

"He's having some issues, that's all"

Logan closed his eyes and smiled with so much pain Derek actually felt pity for him "I bet he didn't have to put up with our shit now that he has a new friend, huh?"

Derek froze.

"What new friend?"

"I don't know" Logan frowned when he remembered Adam and Julian talking "Some dude"

"Was his name Adam?" his chest was starting to hurt again.

"I don't know" repeated "I think he's new because the first time I saw him was in the fair with Jules"

"Shit!"

* * *

"Anyway, that's why I decided to take the movie" Julian was sitting on the floor making circles with his index on his knee.

Adam was happy he had stopped talking about the same thing over and over again and now he was talking about his movie plans. "Still," he replied "I don't think it's a good idea…"

Julian laughed patiently "Yeah, you and an army of angry fans"

Adam felt so good just being at the same school as his idol but the fact that he was now alone with him in a private place was beyond everything. They were friends now. Best friends. It was just a matter of time until Julian finally realizes that he was in love with him. Just a matter of time. Julian sighed and watched his empty glass then at the empty bottle and frowned "What now?" he asked, he felt a little dizzy.

Adam smiled and stood up "Stay right here, I'll be right back" he was leaving until Julian's voice stopped him "More booze?" Adam laughed and nodded "There's a liquor store two blocks away. It's from my dad and the employees always sell me alcohol because they're afraid I might say something and they'd end up getting fired".

Julian faked a smile. That guy was really boring and weird but at least he gave him alcohol when he needed it "Where are we, anyway?" And why did he just realize he just left with a guy he barely knew and get into some kind of warehouse with him.

"Uh, by the Westerville Reservoir… Hey!" he sounded excited "we should totally go there some time!"

"Totally" the actor laughed, there would be no way that will ever happen "Sounds like a plan"

Adam smiled and disappeared through a woodened door. When Julian was left alone he sighed and took out a cell phone from his pocket.

"Stop calling me, Derek. Leave me alone"

* * *

"Julian, thank God!" Derek felt his soul came back to his body when he heard his friend's voice. While he was trying to locate Julian, Derek had the time to explain Logan the whole situation with Adam and all the stuff the others found in his room. The reason he was acting so defensive was because he was scared.

Logan wanted to kill himself. He was so embarrassed and nervous that he actually punched a wall so strong he had to put some ice to his hand to swell it down. When he heard the distant voice of Julian through the phone he jumped and stood next to Derek trying to listen to him better. He was still alive and that was all that matter for now.

"Derek, stop it, okay?" the voice of the young actor sounded serious, although, a little dazed "I'm not-"

"Julian, are you with Adam right now?"

How did he know that? "What?"

"Are you with Adam right now, Julian? Answer the question!"

"Yeah…" there was a dreadful silence at the other line of the phone "I mean, not right now. He's buying some stuff"

Logan froze, his heart was beating too fast he felt dizzy: the whole room was spinning. He needed to sit down. Derek was already leaned on a table to keep him steady and with his other hand he held tightly to the top of it.

"Don't freak out, okay?" Derek was breathing with extremely difficulty "I want you to tell me where you are"

"I'm fine, Derek, gee!" Julian was getting irritated "You sound like my grandma!"

"Julian, the whole psycho thing that happened last night?" Julian closed his eyes trying to forget what he had saw when he tried to leave Dalton for good "We know who did it" Julian felt his body tensed "It was Adam, Jules. Adam is your stalker"

If Julian hadn't been sat down he would have fainted. He felt scared, alone, weak and about to cry. He leaned against the wall and opened his eyes in an instant. He couldn't breathe, he felt like he was been drowned, like someone was sitting on his chest.

Derek could only hear through the phone Julian struggle to breathe while sobbing.

"Julian?" The actor was having a panic attack "Julian, you're still there?" The person talking in the phone sounded distant, like an echo "Julian!" Derek yelled "for Heaven's sake, answer me!"

What if Adam found him having troubles to breathe, holding his phone tight? He was gonna die, he was sure about that.

"JULES!"

And there there was that voice again. That voice that a couple of hours ago screamed that same name and made him froze. There it was: the worried tone, so concerned, yet, so harmonious. Julian managed to take a sudden deep breath when he listened to his voice and the air finally entered into his lungs. A miraculously hand pulled him out of the water right before he drowned.

Logan was his miracle.

"Logan," Julian cried quietly over the phone hugging his knees "I'm scared"

"I know you are, Jules" to hear him so vulnerable made his eyes got teary but he knew he couldn't cry, Julian needed someone to give him courage so his voice remained calm "But right now you have to be brave, okay?" he closed his eyes. Derek looked how easily the tears went down through his friend's cheeks. "I know you can do it".

"I'm gonna die, Logan" Julian was shaking and his best friend wasn't there to make him company.

"No, Jules, no!" Logan stopped crying and now was just mad at his friend for his thoughts "I won't allow it. No one is gonna put a finger on you, I swear. Don't say that again"

Julian was trying to remember how to breathe but it wasn't easy.

"Hear me out, okay?" Logan sounded confident "We need you to look for anything that can lead us to you" the breathing thing was getting easier now "Do you know where you are?"

The lonely guy tried to remember the name of the street they were but he didn't pay attention to that. Then, he thought "He said something about being close to the Westerville Reservoir" Right after he said that he heard movement in the other line.

"Okay, Jules" Logan and Derek were running through the third floor hallways "See? You're doing it great. Is there something else?"

"Uh…"he was wiping his tears, Logan gave him confidence "something about his father liquor store two blocks away"

"That's great Julian, you're doing fine"

"Ask him if he can see something from the outside" Derek asked also running next to Logan. He was starting to hate Dalton's spiral stairs.

Julian stood up, there was a window ten feet away from the door.

"Did you hear that, Jules? Can you see something?"

"An old white house with a red roof. There's a blue truck in front of it" Logan was smiling in relief. The more he talked, the more he was sure nothing was happening to him. Julian continued "A tree. Huge tree, you should totally see it from miles away"

"Huge tree, then. Excellent, Julian, great!"

Finally they got into the parking lot. Derek, Logan and Julian always parked their cars next to each other and now they were using Derek's due to Logan's hand.

"Logan?" Julian turned away from the window and started walking to the center of the room. He never heard the door open.

"Yeah?" Logan was trying to take some air. He was about to throw up.

Julian closed his eyes "Don't leave me, okay?"

A strong figure appeared at his back. He looked confused. How was he talking to the phone? He thought Julian said something about 'I don't care about my phone anymore' right before they left Dalton.

"Never, Jules. I promise" Logan smiled.

"Who are you talking to?" the sudden voice came out of nowhere and made Julian hold his breath and squeeze his phone even harder. Unfortunately, Logan didn't heard that "Is that Logan?" asked the voice feeling betrayed.

Julian turned around to face his stalker, he was waiting for an answer frowning.

"Julian, I asked you a question" he never raised his voice, he seemed calm but Julian saw how his jaw clenched and how his hands suddenly became fists.

"No" he murmured.

"'No' what, Jules?" the voice came on so casual and calm from the phone it only made things worse at the warehouse they were "Jules?"

In a sudden fit of rage, Adam snatched Julian's phone and took the battery off before he threw it to a corner making a broomstick fell. It was a dead, empty sound.

"Julian?" Logan stopped running and Derek stopped doing it too after a couple of seconds. Why did he have stopped running? "Jules" Logan looked at the screen worried "Hello?"

He saw the screen said 'ended call' and Derek approached him, both were pale "Logan, what happened?"

Logan tried to call again but it was pointless.

"Voicemail" Logan was shaking, Derek was about to do the same thing "That son of a bitch is with him"

* * *

"Do you think is nice to invite you here, buy you alcohol and then find out that you're thinking of someone else?" Adam was so close to him he could feel his breathe on his face **"DO YOU?"**

Julian couldn't move, he closed his eyes and started taking deep breaths **"ANSWER ME!"** Adam lost it and threw all the bottles he had bought to the wall, it was a pitchy noise. Julian gasped.

"All I wanted to be was your friend, Julian" now his voice was shaking desperately "And, maybe, someday… something more" he touched his cheek and Julian shuddered "But that Logan guy, he's…he's not right for you, Julian" the actor couldn't help but crying, he was petrified "That's alright, though. I've already taken care of it"

Julian's eyes opened instantly in horror but not for his life anymore. That last sentence made his blood turned cold.

"What did you do" He was so mad that the wrath was the one talking, not him.

"He's coming right?" Silence, Julian was in shock. Adam caressed his cheek murmuring "It's all been taken care of"

* * *

"Take the N State"

Both seemed dreadful serious, in a mood to kill someone. If there'd be a chance that this someone was a certain stalker guy, it would be better.

"Africa Road is way faster"

Logan shook his head and stood in front of the passenger seat "N State, Derek"

"Logan, I'm not arguing this with you right now! I'm driving, I'll take Africa Road!"

"Fine then!" Logan looked angry. He took from his blazer pocket a car key "I'll meet you there" And turned into the other direction.

"You're taking your car now!" Are you an idiot? No, we're going together"

"Then take the damn N State!" Logan yelled unlocking the car.

"What are-?"

"Shut up, Derek" Logan was starting the car already "I'll meet you there"

Five minutes later, both cars were taking separate ways until finally reached the highway.

Screw the speed limit.

* * *

"Adam, what did you do to Logan?" Julian never looked away from his stalker. He was scared as hell but now it wasn't the time to be a coward.

"SHUT UP!" Adam yelled walking in circles with the broomstick in his hand. Julian jumped a little at the sudden roar. "Stop thinking about him, okay?" His voice was trembling, about to cry "Just…Stop"

Julian remained in silence fully aware of every movement Adam made. He had to be prepared for anything; this guy was a threat.

"Why are you doing this?" Adam stopped and looked through the windows, it wasn't that easy because of his tears "Come on, Adam, you seem like a nice person…"

Adam didn't even try to stop crying. Julian was feeling better, more confident; he thought he could talk him out of his madness.

"I just wanted to be your friend" the guy murmured.

This got to be a freaking joke.

"Well then-" he didn't move an inch but his face did change into a sudden pity smile "we started with the wrong foot, huh?" Logan had given him confidence and tranquility. He could win some time until his friends would come and get him. He just had to wait.

'_He's coming right?'_

Adam's voice echoed in Julian's head. He felt like he was about to faint.

"Adam," Julian couldn't help it, he had to know the truth. Screw the friendly talk "What did you do to Logan's car?"

Adam looked at him furious, he threw the broomstick he was holding tight "SHUT UP!" and ran towards him; eyes filled with rage.

* * *

*Incoming call from Derek*

Logan hit the steering wheel with both hands. "Fuck!" he turned the speaker on "You are there already?"

"No!" Derek cried over the phone "Stupid car accident ahead!" Derek was honking like a maniac "COME ON!" he screamed through the window of his car "I was so close, Logan!"

The speed never stopped increasing, he pressed the accelerator even harder, his hands were squeezing the steering wheel "I'm on my way" and ended the call.

Julian's car wasn't faster than his, but turned out to be helpful when he needed it. Logan found his keys back in Dalton while he was putting Julian's Ipad back into his bag. It was the only thing that he could keep that reminded of him, so he just held it tightly and saved it in his pocket.

*Westerville Reservoir: 15 miles*

When Logan read the rusted sign he felt anxious.

If that psychopath would even dare to touch his Julian he would kill him with his bare hands.

He didn't care about the speedometer.

He was still thinking it wasn't enough.

* * *

"I'm only doing this because I care, okay?"

Adam was swallowing his tears, he didn't have to cry. In his mind, he wasn't doing anything wrong. Julian was shaking and scared to death. This wasn't right.

And Logan swore to him that nothing will happen.

But, then again, Logan wasn't there...

He felt a rough rope hurt his wrists while Adam was tying his hands behind his back. "I just need you to hear my reasons…" now he was face to face with his idol "You shouldn't do that movie"

"Okay, okay!" Julian was desperate, his throat shut. "I won't do the movie!"

A mix of emotions suddenly came into Adam's face. He was smiling yet, still wanting to cry. Then he nodded.

"And you should get use to the idea that Logan isn't gonna be there for you all the time" The feeling of being drowned appeared again. He smiled while the actor looked at him terrified "...I will"

* * *

Where's the huge tree now?

Logan reduced the speed and started looking up to the sky. Every tree was bigger than the other.

"The fucking tree, Julian!" He punched the window and didn't even care about the excruciating pain in his hand.

A liquor store appeared out of nowhere. Logan turned his head around to make sure it was, in fact, the liquor store he was looking for. He didn't have to. A thick, big tree was not far away from there, its shadow being enjoyed by an old blue truck parked on the street. His heart was beating too fast at this sight. He parked in front of a 2010 Audi A5 he was sure he will be happy to smash and burst into flames with the driver still in it.

He pulled away his phone and pressed recall while running to the door "I'm here, I'm here" Derek breathed deeply and let a tear ran through his cheek in relief. Logan threw his cell phone into his pocket and run wildly banging the door with rage into the wall.

The tall blond looked at the dusty old place searching for Julian. When he found his best friend's scared eyes looking to an extremely close angry guy his body tensed and ran immediately towards him.

"Logan!"

Logan pushed away the stalker and threw him into a shelf. It wasn't a heat running through his veins anymore: fire wrapped his body in a second. He kicked him on the leg while Adam was still on the floor.

"Stand up, you bastard!" Logan was blind with rage. His eyes didn't look away from Adam who refused to look at him. He was confused. What went wrong with his plan?

"Logan" Suddenly, the blond guy turned around to meet a frightened boy and his rage became the most beautiful smile Julian had never seen.

"Jules!" he ran and hugged him tight but felt nothing in return. Logan broke apart and looked at Julian's hands tied up. "Oh, God…" he wanted to cry, he had failed him "Oh God, Jules!" the tears ran through his cheeks while trying to untie his friend. Julian felt his heart break when he felt some of the tears colliding in his palms. He closed his eyes and smiled sadly.

"It's okay…"

A quick punch threw Logan into another shelf full of cleaning products. "I'm up, lunatic!"

Logan somehow tackled down the other guy while Julian was looking desperate for something he could use to cut the ropes. Adam somehow regained the control of the fight and was sitting on top of Logan about to punch him in the face. Julian screamed "NO!" and ran towards Adam, kicking him in the back with all his strength. His hands wanted to do something but every time they separate he felt the ropes burning his wrists. Adam couldn't believe that his new best friend was hurting him, so his arm pulled Julian's legs, making him loose control and fall heavily to the floor right next to Logan. His face showed so much pain that Logan couldn't take it anymore: he made a fist and concentrate his entire wrath on it. The punch went straight to Adam's jaw making him fall on his back. Logan rolled over to take a better look of his friend, he was wounded "Julian!" the same hand Logan had use the whole day to throw punches or hit things was now touching his best friend's cheek, both felt better for a second "Jules!"

Julian opened his eyes to met a pair of green concerned eyes looking at him, but there was something else than his look.

"Logan, watch out!" Logan turned around just in time to look at Adam raising the broomstick and hitting him in the ribs repeatedly "NO!" He tried to stand up but his ribs hurt too much because of the fall. Logan was unconscious after Adam hit his head accidentally but he continued. "Stop it!" Julian cried. Adam didn't listen. "Please, Adam! STOP!" but it was pointless. Julian saw Logan on the floor, so vulnerable, so unprotected that he couldn't take it anymore. Adrenaline ran through his body but he was too weak to actually attack Adam. He just threw himself onto Logan's body and protected him. If Adam wanted to hit someone he should hit him and leave Logan out of this.

Adam lifted again the stick but stopped when he saw Julian on his knees, his back curved as a shelter across Logan's torso and both guys' cheeks touching. Adam felt jealous of the sudden love act. He squeezed the broom harder and was determined to hurt the actor so hard he would never walk again.

And then someone came through the door.

"NOOOOO!" Derek moved so fast that he managed to grab a bottle and threw it to Adam. The guy released his weapon trying to cover his face with his hands and Derek took advantage of the situation: he ran towards Adam and pushed him into the shelves. A bucket of paint that was on the top hit his head leaving the guy dazed, everything was spinning.

Derek stood in front of Adam, took him by the shirt and looked at him, furious. Adam met his eyes and gave him an evil smirk. Derek felt grateful for his boxing training and punched him, leaving him unconscious.

Julian didn't have the strength to see what happened since Derek came in. He was crying next to Logan, feeling his warm cheek in his. He was trembling. When a hand caught his shoulder he screamed getting even closer to his best friend.

"Julian, it's me!" Derek said worried, he didn't think that Julian would react that way "It's Derek, Jules. Everything's over now"

The actor opened his eyes, still shaking. He looked at Derek who was giving him a warm smile. Derek leaned over and hugged him tight "Are you alright?" Derek didn't want to let him go. Julian nodded without taking his eyes off of Adam, even unconscious he didn't trust him.

"Logan"

Julian reacted and broke apart from Derek's side. He saw his blond messy hair spreading in the floor, some red marks in his beautiful face and Logan's eyelids did not allow the actor to look at those green piercing eyes he always stare at when they fight. The truth was that Julian always won the staring contest because he never had enough of his eyes, not even when all he wanted to do is kill him.

Derek stared at Julian's expression: pain, anxiety, fear, impotence and regret were coming in every tear along with fury. Derek stood up and started looking from something to cut the ropes. Julian had struggled so much to break his hands apart that he had made the knot impossible to untie. He took some garden scissors that were close to Adam (and took a moment to kick him in the stomach too) and set Julian's hands free.

The first thing he did was to hug Logan.

Derek let them had their moment and took out his phone. "911? Yeah, I need an ambulance and-" he looked at the other unconscious guy far away from them "maybe the police would be a good idea".


	7. Chapter 7

Logan opened his eyes and looked at a linear fluorescent lamp above him. That was an unusual way to wake up.

"Hey…" Logan turned to look where the familiar voice was coming from.

"Hi" he replied looking at Derek disoriented "Where am I?"

Derek smiled and sat on a chair next to Logan's bed "Hospital. You had a concussion"

Logan nodded and felt his head ache. He started to look around and stopped at a table full of 'Get well' cards of different colors and shapes, a small cookie basket and his Ipod.

"Some guys came to visit you but they didn't want to wake you up" Logan continued to stare at the colorful table "The twins wanted to give you a couple of nerf guns but they seemed like they really wanted them so I gave them back… I hope it's okay…" Logan turned to look at his friend and nodded, still confused "They took some cookies too" Derek admitted in defeat "…couldn't help it"

Logan would have smile but his whole body was in so much pain that he just couldn't. Derek looked at him concerned "How do you feel?"

"Like shit" the fluorescent lamp caught his eyes again. He sighed and suddenly became anxious, he remembered everything now "Where's Julian?" the last image he had of his Jules was lying next to him crying out of pain and fear.

"Calm down now" Derek tried not to grin: he was waiting for that question since Logan woke up "I convinced him to go to the cafeteria to grab something to eat"

Both guys stayed in quiet for a minute. Logan was anxious. Where was his Jules? Derek interrupted his thoughts.

"Ramsey expelled Adam, obviously…" Logan listened carefully, if it was up to him he would execute him "Justin told me that his parents are gonna put him in therapy"

"He could drop dead for all that matters" the ceiling was really an interesting place to look at.

Derek nodded.

"Julian talked to the police" Logan looked at Derek for a moment and stared back at the lamp "He put a restriction order just in case. For him and you"

Logan's jaw clenched, he tried to put his arms under his head but there was something that made it difficult: his right hand was wrapped in a cast that weighed too much for him at the moment. Somehow, he managed to lift it and studied it.

"The doctor said that's just for precaution"

A quiet voice came from the door, a guy with brown hair and a shy look was staring at the wounded hand while he was playing with his fingers.

"Jules!" Logan never felt happier in his entire life. His smile was getting bigger and bigger. Julian sensed a warm feeling surrounding his heart and smiled back "Why did it take you so long?"

"Getting some chocolates for Your Highness" he took out of his pocket a Milky Way and threw it to his friend with the same grin.

Derek also smiled and stood up "I'm tired" neither of his friends looked at him, they kept staring at each other. Of course. He tried not to laugh while leaving and patted Julian on the back. Julian finally looked at him and whispered a 'thank you', for everything. The door closed a second later leaving the two guys alone.

"Are you okay?" Logan finally asked breaking the silence.

"Yeah," he nodded shyly "a couple of bruises and a…" he lifted his shirt up to his chest showing his bandaged torso "I hurt my ribs but nothing serious"

Logan nodded and Julian walked towards the chair Derek left close to Logan's bed.

They looked at each other smiling.

"So… what happened after that troglodyte left me unconscious?"

"Derek kicked his ass" Julian actually didn't see anything. He had forgotten about the rest of the world and only focus on Logan.

_Come on, Wright, don't do this to me, please. I love you. You said you'll never leave me, Logan, come on! I love you. I am in love with you. I don't care how much it hurts, you mean everything to me! Logan, come on, don't leave me! Wake up!_

But that speech was something Logan wasn't aware of and that moment they shared back in the warehouse while Julian was protecting him was something Julian needed to have.

"And now…" Logan tried to sound casual "you're leaving"

Julian snapped out of his memories and smiled "I'm not in a Hollywood mood right now"

Logan laughed softly, his body still hurt. Julian shook his head "I'm taking a break for that madness" he added "at least for the rest of the year"

The blond one agreed and examined the actor carefully: his wrists looked red, like burned. Logan pressed his lips and Julian knew what he was thinking. He crossed his arms, hid his hands and took a deep breath.

"How about you?" Logan jumped a little for the volume in Julian's voice "How do you feel?"

"Awful" he smiled to him "Like someone had beat the crap out of me with a freakin' broomstick"

"Yeah, no kiddin'…" he replied laughing, grabbed his chair and put it closer to Logan's bed.

"Jules?" Julian wasn't looking at him anymore but he was listening. Logan was searching for his eyes "…I'm glad you're staying"

Finally, Julian looked at his green, heart-melting eyes and smiled.

"Me too"

There was a nice comfortable silence between them, both never taking their eyes off of each other.

"Jules?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm trying to hold your hand now" the blond one smiled. Julian looked down and saw Logan's palm facing the ceiling; his fingers were stretched waiting for his hand.

"Oh" Julian blushed. He moved his hand and put it on top of Logan's, both hands locked together. Thank God I'm in a hospital, Julian thought. His heart was trying to jump out of his chest.

And they stayed like that, without making any movement at all staring their hands which now seemed to have become one.

After five minutes of quietness, Logan broke the spell.

"Hey, Jules?"

"Yeah?" he squeezed Logan's hand harder.

"Could you open that Milky Way for me, please?"

Julian looked at him in disbelief and then laughed.

"I don't feel like it" he took his hand away from Logan's and walked towards the table Logan had been watching before "Are those Hummel's cookies?" he took the tiny basket with him and sat back in his chair "Good, I've been dying to eat one!"

He took away the tiny red laze that was tying a cellophane cover for the basket and started eating the cookies. Logan frowned.

"Those are mine, you know…" Julian was still eating them "I'm on a hospital bed, I get the cookies"

"You are a freakin' martyr, sweetie, I give you that" the actor was amused, his legs were resting on Logan's bed and he was still eating his cookies.

Logan sighed, he was entertained too "Seriously, though, the Milky Way" and threw it to the tiny basket making some cookies break. Julian opened it and approached it to his friend. "Thanks", he took a bite.

"Hmm!" Julian exclaimed in pleasure "These are so good…"

"I wouldn't know…" Logan said chewing a piece of chocolate "Apparently I can't have one"

"Relax" he was admiring the cookie he was holding "I'll ask Kurt for the recipe and I'll make you some cookies"

Logan smiled delighted, he felt like a new guy, happier than ever."You'd do that?"

Things were really starting to change for them.

"Buttface wants cookies" Julian contemplated the last cookie while talking, then he stared back at Logan and focus on his perfect green eyes "Buttface has cookies"

The blond guy smiled.


End file.
